Archive for February, 2014

Flashlight Friends (Stuffed Animal w/ Flashlight) – A Marketing Review

As we know, most children enjoy playing and sleeping with stuffed animals.

The stuffed animals can pose as imaginary friends, or they can simply be silent companions.  It’s a friendly face and a soft body that’s welcoming to many younger children.

We also know that children also enjoy playing with devices that create light, such as flashlights.  You give a kid a flashlight and a slightly dark area, and they’ll have fun for hours.  Or until the flashlight’s batteries finally run out of power.

But what if you were to combine a flashlight with a stuffed animal?

Is such a concept even possible?  I mean, can you just imagine the level of excitement a child may have when playing with both a stuffed animal AND a flashlight?  Wow.  The mere thought of that simply blows away my mind.

Believe it or not, but somebody out there created such a concept.  It’s called the Flashlight Friend.

Done correctly, this could actually be a great product that’s both fun and useful.  On the other hand, if this is something poorly assembled, cheap, or just greatly exaggerated with the advertising, then it’ll fall into the category of most as-seen-on-TV products and be a waste of time and money.

Flashlight Friends TV commercial

Let’s take a closer look at the Flashlight Friends television commercial and see just what they’re trying to sell us here.  SPOILER ALERT — There is misleading if not outright false advertising in this TV commercial.

Flashlight Friends TV commercial – How do we really know that they’re friendly?

The Flashlight Friends television commercial jumps right to the product itself.  Here we’re shown a rather interesting product of a flashlight combined with a stuffed animal.

We know that children love stuffed animals.

We also know that children enjoy playing with flashlights.

But is this really a useful product?  Is the flashlight real or just a glorified nightlight? Read more…

Book Review – George R. R. Martin’s “A Clash of Kings”

Today I finished reading A Clash of Kings, the second book in A Song of Ice and Fire series written by George R. R. Martin.

A Clash of Kings correlates to season two of the HBO series A Game of Thrones.

This second installment immediately follows the action told in the previous book, A Game of Thrones.

As we remember in A Game of Thrones, after King Robert Baratheon died from the hunting accident, Prince Joffrey claimed the Iron Throne for himself.  The only problem was that Joffrey was not Robert’s legitimate heir.  Joffrey and the rest of the Lannisters have no right to the Iron Throne and ruling of Westeros.

This move would spark a civil war in Westeros as Robert’s two brothers, Renly Baratheon and Stannis Baratheon, both want the Iron Throne.  Stannis is the rightful heir as he’s the older of the surviving brothers, but Renly has a larger army and thinks that the people respect him as the better leader.  Both Renly and Stannis use the title of king.

Meanwhile, Robb Stark raised an army to fight against the Lannisters and avenge the death of his father, Ned Stark.  Ned was ruled to be a traitor and King Joffrey ordered him to be executed.  His head was mounted on a spike in King’s Landing.  After Robb proved to be a successful military leader, he was hailed as the King of the North.

Introduced in A Clash of Kings is King Balon Greyjoy of the Iron Islands, a group of islands off the western coast of Westeros.  King Greyjoy decides to make things interesting by launching his own attack against the northern areas of Westeros.

It’s a state of constant warfare and treachery, a time when neighbors turn against neighbors as the five kings (Joffrey, Renly, Stennis, Robb and Balon) go to war.  Some fight for vengeance, others for control of the Seven Kingdoms.

For this book review we’ll take a look at each of the main areas including the Seven Kingdoms, the Wall, and in the East.

SEVEN KINGDOMS:

A Clash of Kings begins with Lord Stannis Baratheon learning of his younger brother, Lord Renly Baratheon, raising an army and heading to King’s Landing to seize the Iron Throne for himself.  Stannis had been living on the island of Dragonstone after his brother, Robert, won the Iron Throne years ago.  In Dargonstone, one of Stannis’s key advisors is Melisandre of Asshai, a red priestess who follows the Lord of Light. Read more…

Ruggies (Reusable Rug Grippers) – A Marketing Review

Laying on the hallway floor is your arch nemesis.

It looks innocent enough, all soft and furry, but you know the truth.  One misstep and you’ll be in the hospital.  Stepping on it wrong probably won’t kill you, but living with a broken neck certainly isn’t a pleasant thought either.

Cautiously you approach it, hoping that luck is on your side today.  You know that this problem has only grown worse over the years, but your laziness has prevented you from finally taking care of it.  Knowing the risks you proceed to step closer and closer to it.

And then your foot makes contact.

This time it doesn’t budge.

You breathe a sense of relief and continue walking down the hallway.  This most recent encounter is a victory for you, but what about next time?  It’s still going to be there.  It’ll be there next time and so on until YOU decide to finally do something about it, you lazy bum.

No, I’m not talking about the pet cat and his habit of biting and scratching whenever people step on him.  I’m talking about that rug that you placed on a wooden floor.  You know, that small rug that tends to slip and cause you to lose your balance half the time.

So what can you do about the rug and preventing it from slipping or tripping you?

Duct tape is an answer.  So are a bunch of nails.  You can even use a bunch of glue and really secure that rug to the floor.  Of course, such options will probably ruin both the rug and the floor.

Ruggies website — www.BuyRuggies.com

What’s this?  Ruggies?

Ruggies TV commercial

Let’s take a closer look and see just what the advertisers are trying to sell us.

Ruggies TV commercial – This rug does a great job of hiding the chalk outline of the previous resident.

The Ruggies television commercial begins by showing us a fairly nice rug inside of a woman’s home.  This particular rug appears to be of decent quality.  Higher quality rugs are often thicker and much less probable of sliding on your floor, being a walking hazard, or having their corners curl upwards.

As if we didn’t know, the advertisement informs us that rugs can really help compliment a home’s decorations.  Last time I checked, paintings, plants and even aquariums can help do that as well.

But what if you have a cheaper or flimsier rug, like most of us? Read more…

Atlanta’s 2014 Winter Weather Crisis — Part II

Less than two weeks ago the Atlanta, Georgia metro area was hit by a relatively minor winter storm.

Two inches of snowfall shouldn’t have been a big deal.

However, that snowfall quickly melted on the roads and then changed into ice as the temperatures stayed below freezing.  As the traffic came to a halt, the ice further developed and made sure that NOBODY was going to drive anywhere.  The traffic jammed into one of the worst gridlocks in the past thirty years.  ALL of the interstates and major roads were at a standstill as thousands of people were left stranded.

Naturally, the rest of the nation made Atlanta into a laughing stock, thinking that we couldn’t handle two inches of snow.  What the ignorant people didn’t understand was that it was the ICE, and NOT the snow that was the problem.  The traffic problems were further complicated with an entire city basically emptying at once along with all of the school systems in the surrounding counties.

Right now northern Georgia and the Atlanta metro area is forecast for another winter storm.  Actually, this time we’re forecast to be hit by two winter storms about a day apart from each other.  The first winter storm is supposed to hit tonight while the second storm will be hitting the Atlanta area on Tuesday night and during the day on Wednesday.

Thanks to the madness from the last storm, right now the city and its residents are in full panic mode.  Schools throughout the metro area have already announced being closed for Tuesday and Wednesday, people are flocking to the grocery stores and gas stations, and a lot of people are planning on calling out or trying to work from home for the next couple of days.

Nobody is going to be taking any chances.

And once again it’s making the city look bad. Read more…

Movie Review – Lego Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite (2013)

In honor of this weekend’s release of The Lego Movie, today we’re taking a look at last year’s direct-to-video film, Lego Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite.

It’s no secret that Lego construction toys have been becoming increasingly popular since the early 1950s.  What started as basic building blocks quickly expanded through a variety of themes including medieval castles, pirates, outer space, and city pieces.  Many more themes have been added over the years from Star Wars to The Lord of the Rings to just about any popular film these days.

The Lego obsession further continued with the release of the Lego video games, from Lego Island and Lego Racers in the late 1990s to Lego Star Wars, Lego Indiana Jones, Lego Batman, Lego Harry Potter, Lego Lord of the Rings, and more.

Lego doesn’t stop there!

We cannot forget about the 90 Lego Stores, the six Legoland amusement parks, the thousands of different Lego-themed clothes and souvenirs, and two Lego animated television shows.

It was just a matter of time before we started seeing full-length Lego movies.

Lego Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite is heavily based on the Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes video game released back in June of 2012.

Lego Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite (2013) – (c) Warner Premiere / Warner Bros. Pictures

Lego Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite begins as Batman (voiced by Troy Baker) and Superman (voiced by Travis Willingham) arrive at the LexCorp building.  Both of them are confronted and then attacked by Lex Luthor (voiced by Clancy Brown).  Lex uses a Kryptonite ray to attack Superman, and a large crate is dropped on Batman.  It looks like both of the super heroes are defeated.

The film then goes back to two days ago. Read more…

Movie Review – Despicable Me 2 (2013)

Back in 2010, the animated film Despicable Me introduced us to a super villain named Gru and the relationship he develops with three orphaned girls.

The film was not only great but a smash hit with the audiences as well.  It was just a matter of time before a sequel was created.

Despicable Me 2 was released in the summer of 2013.  The animated film brought back Gru, his assistant, the three girls and the army of minions for another adventure.  This time around another villain is set to destroy the world, and it’s up to the Anti-Villain League (AVL) to stop him.  Gru is paired with a young female agent, and the two of them discover the evil plot as well as inner feelings towards each other.

Directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, Steve Carell returns as the voice of Gru.  Supporting him are Kristen Wiig as Lucy Wilde, Benjamin Bratt as Eduardo “El Macho” Perez, Russell Brand as Dr. Nefario, and Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier and Elsie Fisher in the roles of Margo, Edith and Agnes.

Despicable Me 2 (2013) – (c) Universal Pictures

Despicable Me 2 begins at a top secret research facility up north in the Arctic Circle.  It seems like an ordinary day at the research laboratory until a giant flying magnet suddenly hovers overhead.  The magnet is activated and the whole research facility and everything else that’s metal is pulled into the sky and grabbed by the mysterious flying machine. Read more…

Perfect Bacon Bowl (Bacon Cookware) – A Marketing Review

Bacon.

That one word can inspire the hunger in almost any man.

The mere mentioning of the word conjures images of bacon cooking in a skillet.  You then visualize the sound of it frying along with the aroma of the prized food itself.

Mmmmmm. Bacon.

Of course, some of today’s advertisers take this obsession to the extreme, indicating that people, men in particular, simply go crazy for the food.  As we know from reality, this is often not the case.  Bacon *is* something enjoyed and craved at times, but it’s not like guys are drawing swords and going to war over bacon cooking in the kitchen.

Traditionally, bacon is cooked in a frying pan / flat top, in an oven, or in a microwave.  Bacon is almost always cooked in strips, and most of the time it’s served that way as well.  Bacon might also be chopped into smaller pieces for use as a topping or to be placed inside of another food item. When it comes to eating bacon by itself, or having it on a burger or sandwich, bacon is almost always served flat and whole.

But what if the bacon itself could form its own serving container?

Perfect Bacon Bowl website — www.BuyPerfectBacon.com

What’s this?  The Perfect Bacon Bowl?  Is such a concept really possible?

Perfect Bacon Bowl TV commercial

Didn’t that just look awesome, or what?  Let’s take a closer look and see just what we’re being sold with the Perfect Bacon Bowl.

Perfect Bacon Bowl TV commercial – IT’S BACON!

The Perfect Bacon Bowl TV commercial begins by shooting right for the bleeding obvious.  Apparently everybody out there loves bacon.  That is, those people who, A) Are not vegetarians, and B) Are not involved in any religion(s) that forbid eating pigs.  Perhaps an exception to this would be eating turkey bacon, but everybody knows that turkey bacon is not real bacon.

The point here is that we all love bacon.  It’s a delicious but guilty pleasure as too much of the food has a deadly side effect.  But the occasional piece or two of bacon is safe to enjoy.  Just keep it in moderation, folks, unless you want coronary or cholesterol problems.

We’re not here though to hear warnings about how too much bacon is bad for your health.  We want to know how to make bacon an even better part of our meal. Read more…